Rebirth and Renewal
by aviatrix8
Summary: When the Black Moon family is resurrected, the Ayakashi sisters find themselves drawn back to the clan by a certain someone...


Copyright Aviatrix8, 2000. Sailor Moon and all related characters are property of Naoko Takeuchi, and are used without permission. 

Notes: This story was inspired by the "Sailor Moon: Another Story" Super Famicom video game, where the villains from the first three seasons of the show are resurrected. In the game, one of the groups of villains you must defeat are the Ayakashi sisters; however, it is interesting to note that according to the sisters, the person who urges them to return to the Black Moon family is not Rubius, but... Someone else. Hence, this scenario... 

*** 

Black Moon: Another Story 

"Rebirth and Renewal" 

by Avi 

Petz Ayakashi sighed as she stepped into the cool, night air of the balcony, pulling the screen shut behind her. The atmosphere inside the apartment was far too stifling... Besides, she was in no mood for the idle chatter of her sisters. Petz had found that she had become far more introspective in the past year, ever since she had been healed by the power of the Silver Crystal. 

Still... Leaning across the balcony railing, Petz listened with half an ear to her sisters' conversation, as it filtered outside. It had turned to more serious things; they were now uneasily discussing the monsters that had been wandering the city, as of late. A few moments later, an argument had broken out: Beruche claimed that she had seen a Droid she had worked with the other day, while Cooan swore that that was impossible. 

Petz's brow furrowed. That was the other thing, too... Her sisters had been fighting with each other a lot more lately. Even she wasn't immune, she recalled guiltily, remembering a spat she had with Calaveras just the other day, over some trifle or another. Oddly enough, it put her in mind of the time when they worked with Rubius... Not that that they hadn't their share of bickering even after they had been healed by Sailor Moon; they were siblings after all, and couldn't help it sometimes, but... 

"It's almost as if... Destiny has changed somehow..." she murmured to herself, feeling the disquiet awaken in her. "As if... the past is returning..." 

As she stared broodingly into the night sky, Petz thought she glimpsed something out of the corner of her eye. She ignored it. She had seen _his_ face often enough in her dreams (and nightmares) in the past year, and had learned to live with it. But just then, Petz heard a footstep beside her; startled, she turned around. 

At first, she thought she was dreaming again; all she could see was the person's face. Then, the figure moved into the light. That was when Petz saw how the midnight blue of the figure's hair and jacket melted into the night sky behind him, the steel rods on his breast resembling stars; and how the shadowed white of the rest of his uniform blended in perfectly with the grey stone of the balcony. As she looked up into the person's face, she felt, more than saw, his deep blue eyes meet hers. 

"Hello, Petz," said Saffir, softly. 

She must've cried out, because her sisters were suddenly by her side; she only noticed their presence because of the stifled gasps beside her. Realizing that they were too shocked to react, Petz felt she had to be the first one to say something. 

"S... Saffir!" she managed to say, rather weakly. "I... I... I thought you were dead!" She knew it wasn't the most brilliant thing to say to him, but Petz was too stunned to think of anything else. 

"I was," murmured Saffir in reply, with no trace of irony in his voice. 

"Then... Are you a ghost?" To confirm this, Petz held out her hand hesistantly, to touch him. To her surprise, he took her hand and gently placed it upon his chest. Her hand trembled as it felt the heartbeat beneath it. 

"No, Petz... As you can see, I am quite alive." 

"But... How is that possible?" Petz belated recognized the uneasy voice of Calaveras from behind her. Saffir shook his head slowly, as he carefully let go of Petz's hand. 

"That, I cannot say." Turning away for a moment, he glanced up at the night sky. "Somehow, our Family has been brought back to life... My brother, Esmeraude..." 

"Rubius...?" inquired Cooan tentatively. Saffir turned and gave her a sad smile. 

"Yes, Rubius too." The expression suddenly disappeared from his face. "But I did not come to tell you that... I think you all know why I'm here." 

Petz's heart sank. There was only one reason she could think of why Saffir would be here now, considering the circumstances... And it wasn't pleasant. 

Beside her, she heard the tremulous voice of Beruche. "What are you talking about, Saffir-sama?" 

Saffir was about to answer her, when he was interrupted by Petz's voice. 

"He wants us to come back, Beruche." As she felt her sisters' gazes turn towards her, Petz took a deep breath and continued. 

"Saffir wants us to return to the Black Moon Family." 

There was a stunned silence, which was then broken by Saffir. 

"I'm afraid Petz is correct, Ayakashi sisters..." he confirmed, bowing his dark head apologetically. "I was sent here to ask you to return to our clan." 

"Ask?" said Petz bitterly. Saffir nodded, ignoring the tone of her voice. 

"Ask," he repeated. "I will not force you if you don't want to go... But I suspect you and sisters will find you have no other choice." 

After that enigmatic phrase, he gave them all a measuring look. "I will give you time to decide; go and discuss it amongst yourselves, if you wish. I will be waiting out here on the balcony, for your decision." 

That was a clear dismissal; even though the Ayakashi sisters were no longer of the Black Moon Family, they were used to taking orders from their superiors. Uncertainly, they went inside to make their decision. However, Calaveras stopped upon the threshold and looked back, when she realized one of her sisters had remained behind. 

"Go," urged Petz softly. "I wish to talk to Saffir... Alone." 

The brown-haired woman stared at her elder sister in concern, but the conviction in Petz's eyes made her nod. Turning around, Calaveras re-entered into the apartment, carefully shutting the glass door behind her. 

Petz turned back to Saffir, and felt his deep blue gaze fall upon her. Somehow, she couldn't help but feel resentful... She found herself wishing that Prince Dimando had sent (for she had not missed the fact that Saffir had been _sent_) someone else to ask her and her sisters back; Rubius, or even Esmeraude. Rubius may had been able to convince them, but the Ayakashi sisters were too aware of his manipulations, now... But Saffir... Saffir... 

Summoning all of her courage, Petz glared at him. "How could you... How could you ask me and my sisters to come back? Don't you know..." At this, her voice cracked a bit. "How happy we have been...?" 

He looked at her sadly. "How could I not know? I've seen it myself. When I last visited... You..." He trailed off and turned away. 

"Then why... Why are you doing this?" Her voice had turned pleading now. Saffir's eyes met hers, and Petz was caught off guard by the pain she saw in them. 

"Do you think I had any choice...?" He leaned against the balcony, and hung his head. 

"What do you mean? Of course you have a choice!" snapped Petz, feeling her anger return. Saffir gave her a look that made her temper die down for a moment; then, he addressed her, carefully. 

"No, I don't. And neither do you and your sisters, I'm afraid..." 

"Is that a threat?" snapped Petz. 

Saffir looked startled. "No, of course not!" 

"Then what do you mean?" she asked desperately. "First you say we have a choice, but then you tell me we have none... I don't understand!" 

All of a sudden, Saffir held her by her shoulders and gazed deeply into her eyes. Petz was too startled to react, and could nothing but only stare back into his intensely blue gaze. 

"Haven't you noticed, Petz? The monsters that have returned to the city; some of them are the Droids I created! The uneasiness in your soul, as if the darkness is returning to it? The feeling that your Destiny..." 

"...Is returning," finished Petz softly. Saffir had just put into words the unexplicable disquiet that had been building inside of her lately. 

Realizing that she now understood, Saffir released her. Turning away, he closed his eyes painfully. 

"Please understand, Petz, I don't want any of this... I just want to go back to sleep again, along with my brother and and the rest of my family..." Petz's eyes widened. 

"Surely you don't mean that...?" He looked at her wearily. 

"I don't expect you to understand this, Petz, you who has so much life ahead of you... But my existance at this very moment is _wrong_. I'm just reliving the past, now... A mere shadow of my former life." 

There was a uncomfortable silence. Then, Petz gathered up the remains of her courage and found her voice. 

"But... Isn't that enough?" 

As Saffir turned to look at her in surprise, she walked up to him, until they were close enough to touch. 

"If I said yes..." she continued, avoiding his gaze, "If I agreed to return to the Black Moon Family... You and I..." 

Reaching out tentatively, Petz took his gloved hand into hers, then placed it against her cheek. "Could be together again..." she concluded softly. 

Saffir's eyes widened sympathetically. "Oh, Petz..." Gently, he took her into his arms, and she held him as she would never let him go. 

"We could start over again," she whispered. "We could do it right, this time..." 

"I'm sorry, Petz... " he murmured gently into her ear. "It... It just wouldn't work out... Remember our past lives? The darkness in our souls would never allow it..." 

"I don't care," sobbed Petz, burying her face in his chest. "As long as I could be with you again..." 

They stood together in the moonlight for a long time, reassured by each others' presence. After a while, Petz reluctantly pulled away from Saffir's embrace. 

Just then, they heard a tapping noise behind them. Both looked up to see Calaveras knocking surreptitiously on the doorframe, her younger sisters standing uncomfortably behind her. As they stepped out onto the balcony, Petz managed to compose herself, wiping tears from her eyes, as Saffir addressed the other sisters. 

"So... Have you made your decision?" 

The three youngest Ayakashi sisters looked at each other uncertainly, and then nodded. Saffir then turned back to the eldest sister, and addressed her gently. 

"Petz?" 

The green-haired lady cast her eyes downwards. After a while, she looked up, a resolute gaze in her eyes. "Yes," she replied firmly. 

Saffir hung his head quietly for a moment. Then raising his right hand, he waved it in front of each of the Ayakashi sisters' faces. Instantly, the brand of the Black Moon appeared on their foreheads, and the sisters' civilian clothing transformed into their respective Black Moon uniforms. 

Then, Saffir held out his other hand, opening it. Upon it, lay four pairs of dark crystal earrings. He gazed at each of the sisters with a mixture of sadness and resolve, his gaze lingering the longest upon Petz. 

"You know what to do." 

As the earrings floated to each of the Ayakashi sisters, a dark crystal spaceship rose up behind Saffir, overshadowing the balcony, and casting all of them into darkness... 

END 

***** 


End file.
